Naruto: The Crimson Thief
by Sydney the Sydster
Summary: AU. Being homeless isn't a cup of tea, you have to steal to survive. Seven year old Naruto knows this very well and after being accepted into a makeshift "clan" of homeless orphans, he finds sometimes, it's the way of life. Good things he enjoys it, then.
1. Prologue

**AN:**

WARNINGWARNINGWARNING : This is an alternate universe Naruto story. Don't like, don't read. 

When the Kyuubi attacked and the Yondaime sealed the bijuu within his son it caused an all out world war between all the elemental countries. Kushina raised Naruto up until he was five, she however was the last casualty of the war, dying on the battle field right before the peace treaty was signed. Also, some of the ages are warped in this story. When said character shows up, I'll list their age.

DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Kishimoto-san. I own a laptop, Eri, Aka, and Sakyuu.

xxx

Trees fell, the earth shook. Mass destruction happened all across the forest of the Fire Nation. Hundreds of Konoha shinobi bravely faced off against the monster causing all of this destruction, a bijuu of unlimited power, the Kyuubi. "We can't defeat it!" "We don't need to! We just have to hold it off until the village is safely evacuated and the fourth arrives!" A strangled cry came from the kunoichi who spoke this as one the bijuu's tails came into contact with her body, sending the girl flying through the air where she landed against a tree with a sickening 'thud'. "Rin!" The kitsune let out an ear shattering roar, causing a massive tremor to set through the ground. Panic began to overcome the shinobi, eyes wide with terror as the beast tore through another line of ninjas.

"It's breaking through!" The nin all shared a glance with each other before leaping back into battle. "Don't let it get any closer to our village!" Nothing seemed to be working, the Kyuubi was breaking through their defense at an alarming rate and the shinobi were beginning to lose hope. All it took however, was one cry to bring all their hope back. "The Fourth, he's here!" Sudden cheering over came the battle worn ninjas. The battle was as good as over now! An odd looking black haired shinobi struck a pose, grinning. "Yes! With Minato-sama here the battle is as good as over! The power of youth prevails!" From beside the boy a red-eyed kunoichi yelped, pushing the boy to the floor just as the bijuu's tail swept through where he once stood. "Gai! Keep your head in the battle!" "Sorry Kurenai-chan!"

A giant katana-wielding toad stepped into the battle and the blond haired man atop the toad's head wore a somber expression. "'Bunta, I can't believe this is the only way." The toad gave a non-amused snort but, his eyes held a soft gaze. "You and I both knew this would be the only way, if he attacked Minato." The blue eyed man gave a soft sigh, gazing softly at the sleeping infant in his arms. _Naruto, I hope you can forgive your father._ Snapping his gaze back up to the battle, the man drew in a breath and gingerly shifted the bundled-up infant to his other arm. "Guess I better get started, Gambunta, make sure Jiraiya-sensei keeps an eye on 'Shina and Naruto for me, will you?" The giant toad gave a sad smile. "Will do, kid."

Below on the battle field a giant blinding light shone throughout the forest and when everyone could see again, the Kyuubi was gone as was Gambunta. Cheers began to once more fill the area until a 'Hokage-sama, he's dead!' was cried out. The shinobi sobered up instantly and the only noise heard from the forest were the wails of a newly born infant.

xxx

From atop the balcony of the Hokage's tower, Uzumaki Kushina was overcome with two powerful emotions; grief and joy. Grief at the loss of her husband and lover, Namikaze Minato, and joy that her no, their son, Naruto, was alive and well. At least Minato would live on in their child, Kushina could see her husband's beautiful eyes and unruly blond hair in the babe already. Shifting the position of said babe in her arms, the redheaded woman gave a lonesome smile to her sleeping child, unsurprisingly the lull of the Sandaime's speech had sent the infant into a peaceful sleep. Speaking of said speech...

"But do not weep dear Konoha, for when death comes, life follows. Konoha, my village, you may now welcome the babe Yondaime gave his life for, the child whom he sealed the Kyuubi within, and your hero, Uzumaki Naruto." Stepping back the old man gestured for Kushina to step forward and with a soft grin the woman did so, only to suddenly step back as a chorus of angry shouts came from the villagers below.

"What?! The demon's still alive!?" "Kill it!" "That monster killed thousands and you haven't destroyed it yet?!"

Sarutobi let out a sad sigh as Kushina clutched her son protectively to her chest, become enraged at the villager's shouts to kill her son. _This,_ Sarutobi surmised. _Is not what Minato wanted at all._

Xxx

"The sealing is complete, Kazekage-sama." A pleased smirk crossed over the Kazekage's face as he nodded to the elderly woman. "Thank you, Chiyo." Watching the elderly woman leave the Kazekage turned to his sleeping wife, gently placing a hand on a barely-showing bump underneath her baggy robes. "Soon, Suna will have a trump card none of the others will possess." "Kazekage-sama, sorry to interrupt you but uhm, a Konoha nin is requesting to speak to you, it's urgent." The Suna native gave an annoyed grunt but turned to leave none the less.

It was on that day that the Yondaime Kazekage was killed by a rouge nin, disguised as a Konoha nin.

With the death of the Kazekage, Suna became enraged and attacked the other elemental nations.

It was on that day that the Third Great war started, a world war that reached all the nations.

It was a day that went down in history.

Xxx

"Sakyuu-sama! Konoha is crushing our forces! They're approaching the village with alarming speed!" Sugoi Sakyuu, acting Kazekage of Suna since the Sandaime Kazekage's untimely death, let out a low sigh. Placing his head in his hands the man groaned before looking back up. "Start an evacuation of the city but, keep fighting." Suddenly a thought hit the man. The Sandaime's children... The late Kazekage had boasted how "powerful" his children were going to be and everyone in the council knew of the bijuu sealed within the youngest...

Maybe they could still win this war after all.

"Aka, wait! Fetch me Yashamaru, now!"

xxx

On the outskirts of Kumo, two small children were running for their life. Kiraa Bii (often just known as Kirabi) had been scooting around his father's, the Raikage, with his brother and friend Nii Yugito when he overheard a startling conversation. It was about the war raging on and using the bijuu sealed within Kirabi and Yugito to win the war. Now, everyone in Kumo knew about Kirabi and Yugito's bijuu, heck, they were treated like heroes but, this was the first time little Kirabi had heard anyone talk directly about the bijuu. The council had mentioned extracting the bijuu and controlling them to win the war and Kirabi's own father, agreed. The bijuu would be extracted in two days and the war, would be won by the end of the week. Six year old Kirabi had been thoroughly confused but, his older brother didn't seem to be. Despite his confusion however when his brother told him to run far away from Kumo, Kirabi obeyed. He knew when his brother ordered someone to do something, they obeyed, all others who hadn't died. And Kirabi didn't want to die, not today, at least.

And that's why Kirabi was running on the outskirts of Kumo, dragging four year old Yugito with him as he did so. Spotting a caravan of refugees that had stopped for a moment, a broad grin began to spread across the dark skinned boy's face. "Yugito, hurry! If we hide in the wagon, we'll be out of the Lightning country in no time!" The pale faced toddled nodded absentmindedly and the Raikage's son felt a wave of relief over come him as he and Yugito finally sat down, hidden beneath the shadow of a rather large barrel. They were safe, for now.

He wouldn't feel really safe however, until he was in the safety of another village.

xxx

Suna was hell. Buildings were collapsing, women were screaming, and children were crying. Evacuations were being made and it tore Yashamaru's heart out to see his home be destroyed like this from a war that had only lasted a year or two so far. But, he'd think about that later, some Konoha nin had slipped into the village and he had a promise he needed to keep for his sister. He needed to protect her children because, well, he had promised. "Ahhh! Uncle Yashamaru!"

A stray explosion brought Yashamaru back to reality and the teen began to run faster, dragging along his niece (who had her middle brother by the hand) by the hand. His youngest nephew, Gaara, shifted in his arms and Yashamaru longed to soothe the one year back into sleep but, at the moment survival was the top priority. Once he got these children to safety, he could focus on his survival but, with Sakyuu looking for the youngest and the most recent attack by Konoha the children's lives were in the most danger. Sliding to a stop in front a hidden hole in the walls surrounding Suna, Yashamaru drew in a shaky breath. This was it. The explosions from the village lit up the night sky and the blond closed his eyes, sighing sadly. This was their only chance at escape.

"Yashamaru-san?"

Looking up the man stared at the face of Eri, a friend of his from Konoha whom had promised to take the children away to Konoha. _Were they'll be safe._ "Sorry." Handing Gaara off to the woman, Yashamaru turned around to face Temari, who looked as if she was about to burst into tears at any second. "Temari-chan, this is Eri, she's going to take you and your siblings someplace where you'll be safe." The five year old weakly nodded and Yashamaru smiled as a shadow clone of Eri's bent over to pick Temari up while the real Eri carried both Gaara and Kankuro.

"Be strong, okay?" "'Kay. Bye Uncle Yashamaru." "Bye."

The last thing the man saw was the backs of Eri and his kin as they sped off into the desert. As it turned out, a stray explosion killed him nearly an hour later.

Who would have ever guess explosion tags would have killed him?

Xxx

The war had been going on for five years when it happened, as long as he had been alive.

He was told she had been saving a civilian when it happened, some Iwa nin had gone and stabbed her in the back. Her body wasn't found until days after the battle at the border ended and he was told of her death during the "war-has-ended" festival. He didn't accepted at first, his mother, the woman who raised him, Uzumaki Kushina was indestructible, right?

It wasn't until the funeral was over and shinobi (none of the civilians wanted to associate with a foreigner, after all, she and Minato's marriage had been kept secret) of all sort were crying and comforting him did he realize that yes, his mother really was dead. He didn't cry when he realized this, he simple stood at her grave, frowning.

It wasn't until he was alone in the orphanage that night and it wasn't until he realized that he was _alone_ did he cry.

_Mommy being dead doesn't make me sad,_ five year old Naruto thought with a grimace. _Her leaving me alone does._

Xxx

**AN:** So... that's the prologue. Setting the wheels in motion, ya know?

Ya know. I'm sure there's quite a few grammar mistakes, I looked it over but, my grammar sucks so, you can never be too sure.

Real quick, the ages of all characters mentioned in this chapter as they will be in the first "real" chapter.

AGES

Naruto – 7

Temari – 10

Gaara – 6

Kankuro – 8

Kirabi – 11

Yugito – 9

Critique, review, whatever.

Flames will be laughed at. C:


	2. Chapter One :: Narrow Escape

DISCLAIMER: Naruto is property of Kishimoto, I'm just using the characters for my own personal entertainment and the entertainment of others.

Xxx

"Get back here, demon!" How many times had he conjured up this situation in his mind? Too many times. He had gone over said situation so many times, ever since he had been "removed" from the orphanage and he started to pick pocket, it was always a huge fear of his. To be caught. Luckily for him though, the civilians seemed to be too stupid to notice they were having their pockets picked. But the shinobi... Kami, he never had meant to try to steal from a shinobi!

"Thief!"

But unfortunately, he had.

And now Naruto was being chased down by said shinobi.

Damn it, weren't shinobi suppose to be in uniform?

How was he suppose to know they were a ninja if they didn't wear their headband!

Screwing his eyes shut, the little boy began to speed up, leaping over fallen trashcans and avoiding civilians with the grace only a clumsy seven year old could possess. Giving a sideways glance back over his shoulder, the blond haired child drew in a shaky breath as the ninja continued to run after him at an alarming speed. "I said I was sorry ninja-san!"

He had just wanted a one or two ryo so he could buy some flowers for his mother's grave, but he didn't have any of his own money so he had attempted to grab something from the pockets of an older boy.

Attempted, being the keyword.

The boy had grabbed his wrist mid-snatch and well, here he was.

Life really wasn't fair.

"I'm really, really sorr-!"

Whatever he was going to say was cut off by two small hands, one firmly placed over his mouth, silencing him and the other one grasping his wrist while pulling him behind a corner store. Eyes widening Naruto began to struggle against his captor, his pleas to be released muffled by the tanned hand over his mouth. "Shut up! You don't want to be caught, do you?"

Well.. that wasn't something he was expecting.

Numbly nodding to the feminine voice whom had asked the question, the boy glanced upwards, frowning as he noticed he wasn't able to make out his captor's face in the shadows of the building. "Where'd that damned brat go?" The blond's breath hitched, his eyes traveling to the side of the building, where he could see the boy from earlier glancing around the area like a lost child. _Oh no, what if he sees me?_ His captor seemed to be thinking the same thoughts, because she pulled herself up against the building's brick wall, pressing the little boy's body to her own.

When the shinobi finally continued on the hand against Naruto's mouth moved and the little boy released the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding in. "Gee, are you stupid or something?" Blinking in confusion Naruto turned around to face his previous captor and the girl who had yelled at him. In the light, Naruto could finally make out the features of the one the one had snatched him off the street and was rather surprised to find it was a girl maybe a year older then himself. She had tanned skin (not too tan, like she was from Suna but like she spent a lot of time outside), brown eyes, and scruffy brown hair that was barely long enough to pull into two measly buns on the top of her head. In fact, she would have looked rather plain if it wasn't for the dirt coating her skin and clothes.

So much dirt it made Naruto wonder if she stayed on the street, like he did. "Hey! Kid, are you listening to me? I swear! Not only is he stupid but he's _deaf_ too! Great!" Finally being shaken back into reality, the little blond's jaw squared in anger as the older girl continued to rant and rave about how _stupid_ he was. Hearing enough insults about himself, the boy clenched his hands into fists and glared at the brown haired girl. "Hey! I'm not stupid or deaf!"

She gave him an incredulous look before rolling her eyes, placing her two dainty hands on the side of her hips. "Coulda fooled me! Trying to steal from a shinobi! You're just lucky he was a stupid genin! A chuunin woulda gotten you lickety split!" The little boy's lips pursed, eyes narrowing at the older girl as he spoke. "Well, what do you care for anyway! I don't even know you!" The girl rolled her eyes and leaned forward, her chocolate brown eyes scrutinizing over Naruto's dirty appearance. "If you had gotten caught, you woulda made a bad name for all of us!" As if to empathize her words, she gestured at her chest with a jerk of her thumb, glaring at the younger boy. Her eyes softened for a moment however and the girl leaned back, smiling. "'Sides, you gotta help those like yourself that need help. That's one of the main rules."

Naruto cocked his head at the strange girl, she, was really odd. First she had gone and captured him (true, she was actually hiding him from the genin), then she went and insulted and ranted at him, and now she was acting all buddy-buddy? Was she crazy? And us...? What had she meant by that? "...Us?" Questioned the boy as he looked the older child over. She beamed. "Of course! You didn't think you were the only one, didja?" "...Only what?" The older girl let out a sharp laugh, one that may have been scary if the child's innocent and high pitched voice had smother the scary-ness. "Kid left homeless and orphaned because of the war! Gee, you really are new at this, aren'tcha?" Laughing, the girl shook her head, grasping Naruto's thin wrist with her hand. "C'mon c'mon, I'll show ya. It isn't right to leave a naïve kid like you all by yourself on the streets. Mari'd kill me!"

Naruto cocked his head once more, being dragged along the back alleys of Konoha by some odd girl that kept insulting him. "Hey! I'm not nai-nia- I'm not whatever!" The girl just laughed once more and continued to drag Naruto along. "Sure you're not. I'm Tenten, by the way. What's your name kid?" "Don't call me kid! You're not that much older then me! And my name's Uzumaki Naruto, remember it!"

His only reply was Tenten's laughter as it echoed across the empty alley-ways.

Xxx

**AN:** Personally, I'm rather angry at myself that I couldn't lengenth this chapter up more but, I promise I'll try to make the next chapter longer. Anyway, in this chapter we meet Tenten (yay) who's a scruffy little street-rat, basically. She's only 8 and a year older then Naruto like in canon.

Okay so everyone, I seriously need help deciding whom Naruto ends up with later on. So far, Tenten, Tayuya, Yugito, and Temari are the ones I'm thinking about. So if you could, I dunno, vote, whom you want Naruto to end up with out of those girls, it'd really help me out. (:

Just to let you know though, if you vote Tayuya because you want Tenten to end up with Neji and Temari to end up with Shikamaru, you're going to be dissapointed. I am a fan of crack couples sooo... there is your warning. So yeah, reviews make me happy, fyi.

Until the next chapter or story or whatever,

Syd.


End file.
